Binding for individually removable flat articles



o. o. WElLBY 2,956,674

BINDING FOR INDIVIDUALLY REMOVABLE FLAT ARTICLES Oct. 18, 1960 Filed Sept. 11, 1958 1N VENTOR 0/8 0. Wei/by ATTORNEYS United States Patent BINDING FOR INDIVIDUALLY REMOVABLE FLAT ARTICLES Ole 0. Weilhy, Dallas, Tex., assignor to Utility Stationery & Envelope Company, Inc., Dallas, Tex., a corporation of Texas Filed Sept. 11, 1958, Ser. No. 760,461

Claims. (Cl. 206-57) This invention is concerned with a binding for flat articles such as envelopes, calling cards, IBM cards, order blanks, installment payment card records, and other similar flat articles, which are desired to be bound collectively but removed intact, without tearing or mutilation.

Envelopes, record cards, calling cards and other like flat articles have in the past customarily been sold or dispensed either loosely in boxes or in bundles held together by a paper band or the like. In some instances such articles have been bound with a perforated line which permitted them to be torn away from the package, which in many instances caused the cards to be accidentally mutilated and leaving a jagged edge along the perforated line. It is especially desirable that envelopes be packaged so that they can be removed from the package without mutilation or marring in any fashion.

No satisfactory means has been provided whereby envelopes, cards and the like could be securely bound in packages which permitted the individual removal of such articles from the package without mutilation and in which the articles remaining in the package remain securely bound as the articles are individually withdrawn.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a binding for packages of articles, such as indicated above, in which the articles may be individually removed intact without mutilation, and as the articles are individually removed the package remains intact, thereby providing a neat package wherein the articles are collectively retained until the last such article is removed, thereby preventing loss, scattering and soiling of the packaged articles.

The binding, constituting the subject matter of this invention, is primarily useful for conveniently packaging and binding envelopes for sale, but as indicated above, could be employed for binding any kind of fiat articles which need to be bound collectively in packages but which are permitted to be removed individually without tearing or other mutilation.

A suitable embodiment of the invention is disclosed in the attached drawing wherein:

Figure I is a top perspective view of the binding or package having a plurality of flat articles bound therein, in this instance being envelopes.

Figure II is a bottom perspective view of the package showing an end of the binding tape detached to expose the adhesive material on the back side thereof.

Figure III is an edge elevational view taken on the line IIIIII of Figure IV of the package, showing one of the flat articles partially removed from the package.

Figure IV is a cross-sectional, elevational view taken on the line IV-IV of Figure III.

As shown in the drawing the binding for the package of sheet material consists of a cover made of relatively stifr material, such as cardboard, which is folded into a book shape, comprised of sides 1 and 2 and an end closure portion 3. After the cover is so formed a plurality of envelopes, cards or other flat articles, designated by the numeral 4, are placed in the cover, with the edges of the 2,956,674 Patented Oct. 18, 1960 flat articles coinciding with the edges of the covers 1 and 2.

A strip of binding tape 5 is then extended about the inner end of the package, which the adhering side of the tape in contact with and adhering to the exposed edges of the flat articles 4.

The binding tape 5 is preferably of the pressure-sensitive type having a relatively tacky adhesive on the adhering side thereof, indicated at 7. Pressure sensitive tape is that type of tape which has a non-drying adhesive thereon which may be pressed into adhering relation to a surface, but may be pulled away from the surface without marring the surface or destroying the adhesive. Examples of such tape are adhesive tape, masking tape and friction tape.

The adhesive on such tape may be of the latex base type which is non-drying over a relatively long period of time and provides a sticky adherence to the surface to which it is attached for an extended period of time but may be easily separated from the surface without mutilation of the surface or tape. There are a number of commercial types of such pressure sensitive tape well known in the art.

As shown in the drawing the tape 5 consists of plastic impregnated crepe paper material which has a slight elasticity, and small corrugations 6 therein, said paper being impregnated with a plastic composition.

In applying the strip of tape 5 about the inner end of package it is preferably stretched about the package so as to exert a compressive force to the ends of the articles 4 engaged therebetween. The adhesive 7 engages and adheres to the edges of the articles 4 as indicated at 8.

The sheets 4 are thus firmly bound together but may be individually disengaged from the package. The compressive force supplied by the tape to the ends of the articles 4 causes a slight frictional engagement therebetween and the stick adhesive 7 holds the individual articles against longitudinal movement but the articles may be disengaged from the adhesive by an outward pull thereon without marring or mutilating the articles.

In order to remove any of the articles 4 from the package, the individual article is grasped at its free end and pulled outward while holding the package with the other hand. Such outward pull disengages the edges of the articles from the adhesive 7 so that the article may be individually withdrawn, as indicated at 9 in Figure III. However, the other articles in the package are not disturbed or displaced because they are held and maintained in the package by the adhesive 7 contacting the edges thereof. It has been found that the individual fiat articles will maintain their position in the package until the last one is removed. Thus the articles 4 may be individually removed from the package, leaving the other articles intact in the package until an outward pull is exerted thereagainst.

The adherence of the adhesive to the edges of the flat articles 4 is such that a single such article may be easily pulled from the package, but the collective adherence of such adhesive is such that as the number of such articles attempted to be removed increases the force required to remove them increases. Furthermore the holder of the package will normally press inwardly on the edges of the fiat articles as outward pull is exerted to remove one of the articles, thus increasing the adherence of the adhesive to the remaining articles in the package to hold them in place.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a package for flat articles wherein the articles may be conveniently packaged and maintained in a neat form, eliminating the possibility of scattering or soiling the articles, but which permits individual articles to be removed intact without disturbing the position of the other articles in the package.

It will be understood that other and further forms of the invention may be devised without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a device of the device of the class described, a cover including spaced sides made of relatively stiff material, and having straight, unbroken, marginal edges; a plurality of flat articles disposed between the sides, the edges of said articles substantially coinciding with the edges of the said sides; a strip of pressure sensitive tape extending about one end of the sides; said tape having a relatively sticky, non-drying adhesive on the inner side thereof contacting and adhering to the edges of the articles and the spaced sides.

2. The combination called for in claim 1 wherein the tape is elastic whereby it may be stretched about the sides to exert a compressive force on the ends of the flat articles.

3. The combination called for in claim 1 wherein the pressure sensitive tape is plastic impregnated crepe paper.

4. The combination called for in claim 1 wherein the flat articles are envelopes.

5. In a device of the class described, a cover made of relatively stiff material formed substantially in the shape of a book with spaced sides connected by an end closure the marginal edges of the sides being straight and unbroken; a plurality of flat articles disposed between the sides, said fiat articles having edges substantially coinciding with the edges of the sides; a strip of pressure sensitive tape extended about the end of the cover adjacent the end closure; said tape having a sticky, non-drying adhesive on the inner side thereof in contact with and adhering to the edges of the flat articles and the sides.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 404,260 Conant May 28, 1889 2,210,195 Baldwin Aug. 6, 1940 2,750,315 Tierney June 12, 1956 2,790,546 Demarest Apr. 30, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 999,429 France Oct. 3, 1951 

